$100 in 1986 is worth $196 in 2008,
because prices increased 96.4% over that period, an average of
3.12% a year.
$100 in 1986 has
the same buying power as
$196
in 2008
Detailed inflation statistics
Cumulative price change
96.4%
Average inflation rate
3.12% per year
Converted amount ($100 base)
$196
Price difference ($100 base)
$96.44
CPI in 1986
109.6
CPI in 2008
215.303
Inflation in 1986
1.86%
Inflation in 2008
3.84%
$100 in 1986 → 2008
$196
$100 in 2008 → 1986
$50.91
What happened to prices between 1986 and 2008
Between 1986 and 2008, the Consumer Price Index went from 109.6 to 215.303.
Cumulatively, prices increased 96.4%, which works out to an average of
3.12% per year. Put differently, a dollar in 1986 bought what
$0.51 buys in 2008: the 1986 dollar
lost 49.1% of its purchasing power over
these 22 years.
1986 delivered the decade’s biggest one-year drop in inflation, and it came
almost entirely from a single source: oil. Saudi Arabia abandoned its policy
of restraining output to prop up prices, and world crude collapsed from
about $27 a barrel to under $10 by midyear. Gasoline, which had averaged
$1.12 a gallon in 1985, fell to 86 cents. With energy costs plunging,
headline CPI inflation for the year came in at just 1.9%, the lowest annual
rate since 1965 and a striking bookend to 1980’s 13.5% peak. The relief was
uneven: prices for most goods and services outside energy kept rising at a
moderate pace, so households that didn’t drive much or heat with oil felt
less of the difference. In October, Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of
1986, a bipartisan overhaul that cut the top individual income tax rate from
50% to 28% while closing many deductions and shelters, the broadest rewrite
of the federal tax code since World War II. Between cheap gas and falling
interest rates, 1986 read like proof that the inflationary 1970s were a
closed chapter, six years after the U.S. economy had felt anything but
calm.
Every 1986 amount converts to 2008 at the same ratio, 1.96: $1,000 becomes
$1,964, and $10,000 becomes $19,644.
Amount in 1986
Value in 2008
$1.00
$1.96
$5.00
$9.82
$10.00
$19.64
$20.00
$39.29
$50.00
$98.22
$100
$196
$500
$982
$1,000
$1,964
$5,000
$9,822
$10,000
$19,644
$100,000
$196,444
$1,000,000
$1,964,443
Inflation by spending category, 1986–2008
Between 1986 and 2008, medical care rose the most, up 198.4%, while apparel rose the least, up 12.3%, against 96.4% for all items. The headline number is an average; here is what $100 of 1986
spending costs in 2008, by category:
Category
Avg. yearly inflation
$100 in 1986 →
All items (CPI-U)
3.12%
$196
Medical care
5.10%
$298
Energy
4.59%
$268
Food
3.12%
$196
Housing
3.08%
$195
Transportation
2.99%
$191
Core (all items less food & energy)
2.96%
$190
Apparel
0.53%
$112
Not shown because the BLS began these indexes after 1986: recreation (1993–), education & communication (1993–).
Decade by decade: 1986 to 2008
Prices climbed fastest in the 1980s, averaging 4.50% a year, and slowest in the 1990s (2.80% a year). Each step below chains into the full 1986–2008 change:
Years
Avg. yearly inflation
Price change
$100 from 1986, at end
1986–1990
4.50%
19.3%
$119
1990–2000
2.80%
31.8%
$157
2000–2008
2.83%
25.0%
$196
Year by year: CPI and the value of $100 from 1986
$100 from 1986 had already become $146 by
1997, on its way to $196 in 2008; each row shows the CPI, that
year's inflation rate, and the running value.
Within the span, inflation peaked at 5.4% in 1990, and the smallest rise was 1.6% in 1998.
In 2008, prices rose 3.8% and $100 from 1986 had the buying
power of $196; the year's average CPI of 215.303 is the level
behind every 2008 figure on this page.
Inflation averaged 3.8% in 2008, but that figure hides a swing. The 12-month rate reached 5.6% in
July, when oil hit $147 a barrel and gasoline passed $4 a gallon, then fell to 0.1% by December
as crude dropped near $40. For the year, gas averaged $3.27, the highest yet. The financial
system broke in the fall: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, Congress
created the $700 billion TARP bank rescue on October 3, and the Federal Reserve cut its policy
rate to a range of 0–0.25% in December. The median household earned about $50,300, barely
above 2007, and the median new home price fell to $232,100. The minimum wage rose to $6.55 in
July, and a first-class stamp cost 42 cents. The price collapse at the end of 2008 set up the
deflation of 2009.
MLA: “Inflation from 1986 to 2008: $100 is worth $196 today.” InflationCalculator.com, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data, https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2008/
APA: InflationCalculator.com. Inflation from 1986 to 2008. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U data. Retrieved from https://inflationcalculator.com/inflation/1986-to-2008/